title: Women's knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap smear and human papillomavirus and its relation to screening in Argentina.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate women's knowledge about cervical cancer, Pap smears, and human papilloma virus in relation to their cervical cancer screening behavior. This hospital-based study was conducted with a sample of 200 women: 100 women screened in the last three years and 100 non-screened women who attended a hospital located in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, between September 2008 and February 2009. Women at the hospital were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relation of women's knowledge about Pap smears to screening behavior, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Of the women who had been screened, 49% compared to 73% of those not screened had inadequate knowledge about Pap smears (P = 0.001), and 47% of screened and 30% of non-screened women reported that they had ever heard about human papilloma virus (P = 0.013). In multivariate analysis, having adequate knowledge about Pap smears (odds ratio: 2.6 or 95%, confidence interval: 1.4-4.8) having health insurance (odds ratio: 2.6 or 95%, confidence interval: 1.1-6.4) and being married (odds ratio: 1.8 or 95%, confidence interval: 1.1-3.4) were the factors related to being screened in the previous three years. Knowledge was related to screening. Comprehensive educational approaches may enhance screening for cervical cancer prevention.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES)/Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. melisa@cedes.org
authors.forename: Melisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paolino
authors.forename: Silvina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arrossi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001118:Argentina; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult